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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. present — a gift
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. pit — in a race
  5. present — the time now
  6. cold — not warm
  7. pit — a hole
  8. kick — in football
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. present — there
  11. tear — from crying
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. field — farmland
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. cold — an illness
  16. field — for sport
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. tear — to rip
  19. tear — from crying
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. snap — to click

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com